


Face it together

by christinesangel100



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types, Les Misérables - Victor Hugo
Genre: Fluff, genderfluid Eponine
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-03
Updated: 2018-02-01
Packaged: 2019-01-29 02:56:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 10,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12621584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/christinesangel100/pseuds/christinesangel100
Summary: “How do you sound so awake?” She asked, stifling a yawn.Eponine smirked. “Willpower. That, and I woke up a little bit before the alarm anyway.”Eponine’s hair was loose around their face, and sticking out above it, messy and getting everywhere. Cosette grinned, and leant forward to kiss Eponine on the cheek.Eponine looked amused. “What was that for?”“Just glad to be here with you.”A collection of oneshots based around Cosette and Eponine living together, written during a 30 day challenge.





	1. Day 1: Waking Up Together

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I'm doing a 30 day challenge (which I will hopefully stick to) which is based around domestic fluff.  
> [Here's the link to the OP ](30-days-of-domestic-fluff%20)  
> You can find this fic also published on my [ tumblr ](https://mwahahahahahahaa.tumblr.com/tagged/30-days-of-domestic-fluff) and come speak to me about Eposette, Les Mis or anything really. :)

‘oooh, I do I do I do, ooh, I do I do I do…..’

     The music of the alarm she’d set the night before woke Cosette, and she groaned as she listened to Helpless, waiting for the alarm to shut off.

There was a slight scoff from next to her.

    “No, Cosette, you don’t set an early alarm and go back to sleep.” Her partner said, sounding more awake than asleep as they noticed Cosette’s attempt to return to sleep. Cosette forced her eyes open, feeling the arms of her partner around her waist and smiling. Every day since they’d moved in together, Cosette had been unable to keep from smiling as soon as she realised who she was waking up next to.

She twisted, turning to face her partner.

    “How do you sound so awake?” She asked, stifling a yawn.

    Eponine smirked. “Willpower. That, and I woke up a little bit before the alarm anyway.”

Eponine’s hair was loose around their face, and sticking out above it, messy and getting everywhere. Cosette grinned, and leant forward to kiss Eponine on the cheek.

    Eponine looked amused. “What was that for?”

     “Just glad to be here with you.” Cosette said, snuggling back against Eponine. Their bed was so cosy, so comfortable and warm.

     “Oh no, you are not going back to sleep!” Eponine complained, pulling the duvet off their girlfriend and watching as Cosette winced away from the cold air. “You have work to get to, remember?”

     Cosette sighed. “Yeah, I guess.”

     Eponine leant forward, kissing Cosette softly. “I’ll make you coffee.” They offered, a smile gracing their face as they watched their girlfriend. “Come on. We can have breakfast together, you can go back to work, and I can go back to sleep. Or you know, do something useful.”

    Cosette considered. She didn’t know how, but Eponine made the best coffee. No matter what Cosette did, it never tasted the same. And making breakfast together was always fun. She smiled, looking up at her partner’s messy hair, leaning forward to give them another kiss. They may have only been living together a week, but Cosette would never get tired of waking up next to Eponine.

    “Sounds wonderful.” She said.

    “Good,” Eponine said. “You can use the shower first, I’ll make coffee. Then you go out and have a good day at work, okay?”

    Cosette smiled as Eponine leant forward to poke her nose, a mock serious expression on their face.

   “Okay.”  


	2. Day 2: Morning Routine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first time one of them had stayed over, it had been slightly awkward. Not that they didn’t enjoy it; they were just on new ground, uncertain of how exactly to do things. They’d stood around awkwardly suggesting the other use the shower first, and got changed in the bathroom rather than in the same room. Neither of them knew quite what to do.  
> Nowadays, it was much more normal. 
> 
> Day 2 of the 30 days of domestic fluff: Morning Routine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry I didn't end up having time to write or post this yesterday! I might have to just be a day behind for the rest of the challenge, but I'll do my best to at least starting day 3's one today as well. Hope you enjoy!

The first time one of them had stayed over, it had been slightly awkward. Not that they didn’t enjoy it; they were just on new ground, uncertain of how exactly to do things. They’d stood around awkwardly suggesting the other use the shower first, and got changed in the bathroom rather than in the same room. Neither of them knew quite what to do. They’d chatted over breakfast and a cup of tea for Eponine, a cup of coffee for Cosette. Despite the awkwardness, they’d both loved spending time together.

     Nowadays, it was much more normal. They’d moved in together, after all. With Valjean having all but bought them a place, and enough rooms for Eponine’s siblings to live with them, it was quite a comfortable home. Of course, Cosette had known before moving in that she’d basically be adopting children to look after. She already knew Eponine’s siblings well, and loved them. They could be difficult to look after, but it was way better than leaving them with their awful parents.

     They’d got used to living together, to waking up beside the other, to getting up in the morning. The routine varied. After all, Eponine’s job was varied hour shifts, rather than a strict nine to five job. A lot of days, Cosette had to get up first. Other times, Eponine did.

It had come to be habit by now. When the alarm went off at 5 so that Eponine could get to work for half 7, Cosette woke up too, and kissed her partner until Eponine got out of bed and headed to the shower. Forcing herself to get up, she headed to the kitchen to put on some coffee. It was half term, so none of the kids would need to be awake. Not that it meant they wouldn’t be; Gavroche had some very odd sleeping patterns, seemingly picked up whilst he’d been living on the streets in order to escape living with his parents. Cosette hummed to herself as she made the coffee, waiting for Eponine to finish in the shower.  
     It didn’t take long before Eponine was walking into the kitchen, body wrapped in a towel, with another wrapped around their hair. They moved towards their girlfriend and kissed her check, arms wrapping around Cosette’s waist as she poured the coffee.

    Cosette relaxed into Eponine’s arms. She was tired, but she could go back to sleep for another hour after this. Eponine had to head off to work. Whenever Cosette had to wake up first, Eponine did the same for her – even when Eponine had only come in from an overnight shift a few hours before.

     “You don’t have to be in til 9, do you?” Eponine murmured.

     “Same as always. Grantaire and Jehan are coming over to watch the kids when I go to work.”

     “Oh yeah, Jehan mentioned something about that. Said they’d teach Jean and Michel to bake.” Eponine said, smiling. “That’ll be something to look forward to coming home to. Jehan will make sure there’s at least something edible.”

     “True. You’ll probably get home first, you’d better leave some for me.”

     Eponine grinned. “We’ll see.”

     Cosette raised her eyebrows. “You’d better.” She said, her lips twisting as she tried to pretend they were being serious. Eponine just smirked.

     Cosette handed her partner the coffee, and Eponine closed their eyes, inhaling the smell. It was as if just the smell was enough to help wake them up, let alone actually drinking it. They moved back to their bedroom, Cosette having made herself a cup of fruit tea. She’d be going back to bed for another hour or so once Eponine left, her work place being not only closer but having a later start. She’d have the coffee then. Not that she really needed the extra time of sleep, but it was always nice to just relax in bed.

     Resting the coffee on the bedside table, Cosette sat down on the bed, watching as her partner rapidly tried to find their uniform.

     “I know I had a clean set somewhere…” They muttered, pushing clothes to one side of the wardrobe. “Ah!”

Eponine pulled out the shirt and trousers that made up the uniform and changed, Cosette watching appreciatingly. Eponine sighed.

     “The shift’s too long for me to wear my binder, urgh.” They complained. “And it’s definitely not a female day.”

     Cosette’s face filled with sympathy, and she stood up to move behind Eponine, hugging them from behind. She was never quite sure what to say to help, but Eponine got the message. Hugs always seemed to help.

     “It’ll be fine,” Eponine said. “Just wish I didn’t have to deal with this.”

     “I wish you didn’t, either.” Cosette said softly. “Dysphoria sucks.”

     Eponine snorted. “That’s an understatement.” Buttoning up their top, Eponine turned to face Cosette.

     “Everything look alright?” They asked. Cosette nodded.

     “I don’t think you’ve forgotten anything.”

     “Good. Walk me to the door?”

     “Of course.” Eponine grabbed their bag, glancing inside to check it had their name badge and other things they needed for work, before slinging it over their shoulder. Cosette followed as Eponine headed to the door, her slippers flopping on the carpet.

Eponine glanced towards the rooms the kids slept in. There was no sound from any of them, suggesting that even Gavroche was still asleep. Cosette squeezed their hand and they headed down the stairs. Eponine pulled out their coat from the hall cupboard, and turned to kiss Cosette one last time before work.

     “Have a good day, love.”

     “You too.”

     With a small wave, Eponine walked out of the door and down the street, glancing back to see Cosette waving too. They smiled, and continued. They’d see Cosette again in the evening, and the thought of that made dealing with the 8 hour shift so much better.


	3. Day 3: Laundry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eponine pushed open the door to their brother’s room. “Gav, any clothes you need washing? I’m doing a black wash.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I managed to catch up on the challenge and write Day 3 today too! It's not very long, but none of these are really. I also ended up staying up a lot later than I meant to, but oh well. I hope you enjoy it.

Eponine pushed open the door to their brother’s room. “Gav, any clothes you need washing? I’m doing a black wash.”

    Gav didn’t look up from his game, focused. Eponine was glad that he could relax and have fun here, but it would also help if he actually listened.

    “Gavroche! Any black clothes that need washing?”

    He looked up then, pausing his game. “Sorry, Ep.” He said. “Yeah, my hoodie needs washing.” He stood, moving to go and fetch it from a pile of clothes in the corner of the room. Gavroche had taken time to get used to having space of his own, but once he had, he’d really made use of it.

     Eponine took the hoodie, shoving it into the laundry basket they were carrying.

    “Do you know if the others have anything?”

    Gav frowned. “Azelma might. That black dress she wore for the party. I don’t think Jean and Michel will have anything but socks though.”

    Eponine nodded. “That’s about what I thought. I’ll go hunting.” Stepping out of the room, Eponine heard Gavroche already heading back to his game, the sounds of battle continuing in the background. Smiling, they turned towards Azelma’s room, only to stop as they saw Cosette leaving, the other laundry bag carried in her hands.

     “You’re collecting laundry too?” They both asked at once, and instantly smiled. Cosette nodded.

    “I realised we needed to do a black wash, so I went to pick up what everyone had. I’m going to assume you’ve been doing the same?”

    Eponine nodded. “Yep. And it’s my turn to do laundry, you know.”

    Cosette rolled her eyes. “I got back and thought I’d do it. It doesn’t exactly matter who does it, if it gets done.”

    Eponine smiled. “Makes more sense if we do it together now. Whose rooms have you been to?”

    “Everyone, except Gav. And I haven’t picked up our stuff yet.”

    Eponine knew it was probably their stuff that would have the most black clothing. Or dark colours that could easily go in a wash with black clothing anyway.

    Together, they headed back into their room to search through their laundry together. As expected, there was quite a lot. They both tended to switch between a variety of colours, but black went with pretty much anything. It took a while to sort it, partly due to the fact that Eponine kept stopping to kiss their adorable girlfriend on the cheek, or forehead, or nose. It wasn’t their fault – how were they supposed to resist when they’d barely seen Cosette all day? And Cosette’s little smile when Eponine kissed her was beautiful.

    Despite the distractions, the laundry was sorted after a while. Eponine picked up the basket. Having decided there was no point using more than one, they’d moved the clothes from Cosette’s into their own, and were determined to be the one to carry it. (‘After all,’ Eponine had argued, ‘It was my turn, anyway.’)

    Cosette followed behind, hand linked with Eponine’s free one, squeezing tight. It was always hard during the week to find time together, and weekends weren’t much easier, considering Eponine had to take whatever shifts they were given until they found a better job. They were looking, but it was taking time, and the one they had was good enough in the meantime.

    Once the washing machine was finally on, the pair moved to the lounge. The wash cycle took about the time of one star trek episode, and with the new Discovery episode out…it wasn’t even a question. Cosette loaded up Netflix whilst Eponine pulled a blanket over to the sofa. They called to the others in the house, in case any one else wanted to come and watch, but Azelma had already seen it and Gavroche wanted to keep playing his game. Eponine grabbed the sugar biscuits they’d cooked earlier and put them on the coffee table, well within their reach, before snuggling up next to Cosette on the sofa. The laundry wouldn’t take that long, but any moment they could get was worth having. Cosette lay in front of Eponine on the sofa, and leant back as Eponine reached to kiss her on the forehead. They could hang it up later. Now was a time for relaxing.


	4. Day 4: Night in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As they headed down the stairs, they heard the sound of a key turning in the door and smiled without meaning to, unconsciously speeding up. Cosette was back. Blankets still in their arms, they switched course to the door rather than the lounge. As Cosette pushed through the door, Eponine leant forward over the blankets they were carrying to greet her with a kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Time for day 4 of the challenge, in which I included all the Thernadier siblings because I can't imagine Eponine not looking after them if they could. Neither Eponine or Cosette would just leave them, despite the difficulties it would cause with a newly living together couple.

Eponine changed out of their uniform, taking off their binder (it had been a fairly short shift, so they’d worn one) and putting on pyjamas. There was no reason for them to leave the house again today, and frankly they didn’t want to. The shift today had been tiring, and they needed to relax. Cosette would be home from work soon, and the kids were already back. It was Azelma’s turn to choose the first game, and she’d already put out the cluedo board and assigned them all characters. Eponine had been given Professor Plum, whilst Azelma had given herself Miss Scarlett, and Cosette Mrs Peacock. Gavroche was Colonel Mustard, and Jean and Michel were Mrs White and Reverend Green respectively. Jehan had recently started teaching Jean and Michel how to bake, and with Gavroche’s supervision in the kitchen (Eponine thought that he was old enough now to supervise, and they’d be down soon anyway if there was an issue) they were baking peanut butter cookies. The recipe Jehan had taught them was ridiculously easy, yet delicious. Eponine doubted they’d do anything seriously wrong. Once dressed in warm tracksuit bottoms and a comfy woollen jumper, Eponine grabbed some blankets from the cupboard and headed downstairs. There were enough cushions in the lounge already for everyone to relax comfortably on the floor whilst playing.

      As they headed down the stairs, they heard the sound of a key turning in the door and smiled without meaning to, unconsciously speeding up. Cosette was back. Blankets still in their arms, they switched course to the door rather than the lounge. As Cosette pushed through the door, Eponine leant forward over the blankets they were carrying to greet her with a kiss.

      Cosette grinned into the kiss, before pulling away.

      Nice to see you too, love.”  

      Eponine smiled, moving away to the lounge to put the blankets down as Cosette kicked off her shoes, putting her bag down on the hallway floor. At least once a month, they made sure to have a special game night all together. It was difficult sometimes with Eponine’s shifts, and the various activities each of their younger siblings got up to, but it was good for them. They all enjoyed it – relaxing together, having fun. Playing silly games and trying not to get too competitive.

      “Pizza, chinese, or indian takeaway?” Eponine asked the group of kids messing around in the lounge as they put the blankets down on the sofa.

      Gavroche was the first to respond. “Pizza!”

      Eponine raised an eyebrow. “Not your turn to pick, Gav, you chose last time. It’s Jean’s turn. What do you want?” The youngest of the siblings beamed, looking so excited at having the choice.

      “I want pizza too! With lots of cheese!” Jean said excitedly. “And garlic bread, and chips!”

      Jean hadn’t forgotten that the pizza place they usually went to did chips as sides then.

      “Alright, but the selection of sides we share, remember.” Eponine reminded, before going to pull out the menu for the pizza place from the side of the bookshelf. They glanced at it for a moment. They’d probably get the same as usual, the stuffed crust veggie deluxe. Once upon a time, Eponine would have never allowed themselves to pay extra for something like stuffed crust. Now, it didn’t matter. Cosette’s job was good, even if theirs wasn’t, and anyway, they made enough.

      Cosette came in then, still dressed in what she’d worn for work, smiling at the sight of all of them.

      “I heard Jean saying something about pizza?” She said, looking towards where Eponine had the menu.

      “Yep. Alright, who knows what they want already?” Eponine asked. Azelma raised her hand, and Eponine nodded. “Okay. Jean, here.” They handed the menu over to Jean, who started looking over it. It would take Jean a while to decide, but in reality they already knew what Michel would get. Michel always looked to see the options, and then went with pepperoni anyway.

      Gavroche wouldn’t take long to decide. He got something different each time, working through the menu based on what Grantaire had told him was good. Grantaire did give good advice, and had recommended most of their takeaway options in the first place. Gavroche always seemed happy with his choices, anyway.

      Whilst the others were deciding, Cosette slipped upstairs to change, and came down in her jigglypuff onesie. Eponine felt their heart warm at the sight. No matter how many times they saw it, Cosette was always adorable. Cosette smiled at the expression on Eponine’s face, and wrapped her arms around them in a hug, kissing Eponine’s cheek.   
Gavroche rolled his eyes at them, but they ignored him.

      Eventually, the food was all decided on, and Eponine put the order in on their phone. It was so useful to be able to order food online rather than phoning.

      The family sat down around the board, Azelma going over the rules as if they hadn’t played this game before, when it was almost always the one Azelma chose. The game began, each of them moving around the board and making suggestions, trying to work out the answer. After about half an hour, Eponine could tell by Cosette’s slight smirk that she knew the answer, but was letting the kids have more of a chance. It was stuff like this that made Eponine love Cosette even more. She’d accepted Eponine’s siblings as family with no second thoughts, and loved them as much as she loved Eponine. Eponine knew their expression was sappy, but it was even more evident when Gavroche threw the dice at them.

      “It’s your turn, Ep, pay attention instead of gazing at your girlfriend.”

      Cosette smiled, ducking her head slightly as she looked at Eponine. After all, it wasn’t just Cosette who had accepted Eponine’s siblings; their siblings had accepted Cosette just as easily. There had been a few issues at first, but it hadn’t taken long to sort out.

      The pizza arrived a few rounds into their second game; Eponine stood to go and collect it, leaving the others to continue playing. It only took a moment to take the boxes back, piled up as they were. Everything paused as the pizzas were distributed, the sides scattered around so that multiple people could reach them. Azelma instantly started attacking the cheesy garlic bread, cluedo forgotten. The others followed suit, and Eponine leant against their girlfriend whilst they shared a pizza. Cosette tried to feed Eponine the pizza whilst their hands were occupied, causing both to laugh at how badly it worked. The kids just ignored them, used to the couple being ridiculous at times and choosing to argue over who got the doughballs instead. Once the pizza had been divided up and sides decided on, they started getting back to the game. It took longer this time, everyone distracted by the food, but eventually Gavroche won the game, with ‘Colonel Mustard, in the Hall, with the Spanner’.

      After two full cluedo games, it was time to switch. This was the point when Cosette’s odd Wii came in handy. Just Dance was fun for everyone, and was good at tiring out the youngest kids and getting them to sleep. Only 4 people could officially play, but there was nothing stopping the others from dancing behind them, and that was what the family always did, rotating out through the different dances. Jean and Michel always got very enthusiastic. Eponine had never thought they’d be grateful for the wrist straps on wii remotes, but with those two, they were very necessary. As everyone started to get tired, it became movie time. Michel decided on Tangled, and everyone settled in the blankets and cushions to relax. Eponine and Cosette curled up together, wrapped in several blankets and enjoying the closeness. It didn’t take long for Jean and Michel to fall asleep, despite how much they both loved Rapunzel and Flynn. Azelma, being second eldest, was far from falling asleep, enjoying the movie despite occasionally pretending that being a teenager meant she didn’t. Gavroche was still awake as well, though it was getting later. He was used to staying up at odd hours.

      Once the film was over, Cosette and Eponine lifted Jean and Michel respectively, taking them to their rooms and tucking them into bed. Jean didn’t stir, but Michel snuggled into Eponine as they lifted him, and they couldn’t keep from smiling at their adorable little brother.

      The two met again in the hallway, now devoid of their relative loads, and returned to the lounge.

      “Time for bed, you too.” Eponine said, looking at Azelma and Gavroche. Azelma was clearly pretending not to be tired, but had zoned out staring at her phone, with a frown on her face as if she was trying to make herself read it. She didn’t argue, gathering up her favourite blanket to take back to her room with her. Gavroche followed, the least tired of all, and headed to his room. Whether or not he’d actually sleep was impossible to tell, but it was a Saturday tomorrow anyway, so it wouldn’t make much difference. He could sleep in.

      With the children sorted, Eponine and Cosette returned to their own room, taking turns in the bathroom first to clean teeth and so on. Azelma and Gavroche would do that, too. From past experience, Eponine knew that Jean and Michel would not be awake enough to manage, and would just be grumpy and confused if they tried to wake them up now. Eponine would tell them to scrub extra hard in the morning. It didn’t matter if they forgot every once in a while, as long as most days they remembered.

      Already in a onesie, Cosette didn’t need to change, instead sorting out the blankets. They didn’t need all of them, and she folded several up and put them away in the drawer, before heading to bed. Eponine checked that all the pizza boxes had been put away before joining Cosette, snuggling up to her and kissing her softly. Cuddling her from behind, Eponine’s arms wrapped around Cosette’s middle, Cosette’s hand reaching to hold Eponine’s.

      “Night, love.” Eponine whispered into Cosette’s hair, leaning against their girlfriend’s shoulder as if it was a pillow.

      “Night.” Cosette responded, a smile on her face as she was hugged by her partner. She’d never get tired of this. Perfect evenings followed by a night cuddling the person she loved. Life couldn’t get any better.


	5. Day 5: Nighttime routine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eponine’s shift didn’t finish until half 8. At least, that was when it was meant to finish – there were a huge amount of customers shortly before, and they weren’t able to leave until past ten. When Eponine finally got home, they were exhausted. It had been a long shift to begin with, and as good as it was to get a little extra money, Eponine kind of hated their job sometimes.  
> By the time they got home, all they wanted to do was go to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! This is day 5, posted a day late. Day 6 should be posted this evening, when I have time to write it. Hope you enjoy!

Eponine’s shift didn’t finish until half 8. At least, that was when it was meant to finish – there were a huge amount of customers shortly before, and they weren’t able to leave until past ten. When Eponine finally got home, they were exhausted. It had been a long shift to begin with, and as good as it was to get a little extra money, Eponine kind of hated their job sometimes.   
      By the time they got home, all they wanted to do was go to bed. Their siblings would probably still be up, at least Gavroche and Azelma would be, which probably meant Eponine couldn’t go straight to sleep. It was almost eleven o’clock though, and Eponine was exhausted. Unlocking the door, Eponine pushed it open, not even looking up as they removed their coat and tossed it towards the coat rack, not caring whether or not it actually stayed there. They’d sort it later, if they needed to. They did the same with their shoes, kicking them off and turning to dump their bag on the floor. They didn’t need anything from it tonight, so it could wait. Moving forwards, Eponine headed into the lounge, where the family would often congregate. As expected, Azelma and Gavroche were there, playing on the Wii.

      “Ep! You’re back!” Azelma grinned. “Want to play Mario Kart?”

      Eponine raised an eyebrow. “It’s a school night, you know. And let me just check – yeah, it’s just gone eleven. You guys need some sleep. You can play Mario Kart tomorrow.”

      Azelma rolled her eyes.

      “Fine, just let us finish this race.”

      Gavroche didn’t comment, still focusing on the race. He was clearly winning, but Azelma was close behind, despite being seemingly distracted by Eponine.

      “Are Jean and Michel in bed?” Eponine asked.

      Gavroche nodded, not taking his eyes from the screen. “Yeah, Cosette put them to bed about two hours ago.”

      “Good.”

      Eponine watched as the race continued, Azelma pulling ahead just in time for Gavroche to curse as she passed the finish line ahead of him.

      “Alright, time to turn it off.” Eponine reminded them.

      Gavroche frowned, but turned off the game, putting the controller down. Eponine watched as the two gathered up their things. They reached out to give each of their siblings a goodnight hug before they left. Eponine followed them out, going to the kitchen to get some water. Cosette was probably already in their room, then. Eponine got the water quickly, drinking it down, before washing up the glass and heading to their own room. Gavroche and Azelma probably wouldn’t go straight to sleep, but they were both fairly responsible.   
      Opening the door to their own room, they smiled as they saw their partner, lying on top of the duvet reading a book. Cosette had lit a candle on the windowsill, like they both often did, and the apple and cinnamon scent filled the room. Cosette sat up, putting the book down.

      “You’re home!” She beamed. “Have Gav and Azelma gone to bed?”

      Eponine nodded. “Yep.”

      “How was your shift?”

      “Exhausting as always. Can’t wait until I get a better job. Any job would be better than this.”

      Cosette looked at her in sympathy. “You’ll get something, love. You’re experienced, you’re a hard worker, and you’re good. Something will come along.”

      “I guess so.” Eponine moved themselves over to the bed, reaching down to pull Cosette up. “How was your day?”

      Cosette sighed. “Same as always. Nothing very interesting, just programming. Had a meeting about my project, but that went fine.”

      Cosette let Eponine pull her up from the bed, meeting her partner with a kiss before moving to get her pyjamas. It was obvious they were both too tired to stay up later, so Cosette didn’t hesitate. Eponine followed suit, grabbing their own nightclothes from the drawer and starting to change.

      “A meeting? They didn’t tell you in advance?”

      “Nah, they wanted to put someone else on the project with me, so I had to explain everything in front of everyone so that they all knew what was going on. It was alright. A bit stressful, but.”

      “At least it went alright.” Eponine replied. “You know what you’re doing, and you’re good at it. Obviously nothing would go wrong.”

      Cosette smiled. “Sure. But thanks.”

       They headed to the bathroom together, cleaning their teeth side by side. Cosette left first, leaving Eponine to do other things a bathroom was used for, and switching once Eponine came back to the bedroom, bringing two hot water bottles with her. It was getting colder now, and definitely was a good idea to use hot water bottles to keep them from freezing. She’d filled up Jean and Michel’s earlier.

      They returned to their bedroom, each with a hot water bottle, pulling back the covers and clambering into bed, moving close together. It wouldn’t only conserve body heat. They liked being close together, cuddling, hugging, holding each other as they fell asleep. Eponine lay behind Cosette, arms round her waist, pulling her close. They kissed Cosette’s neck softly as they lay in bed together. Cosette’s hair was soft against Eponine’s face, comforting, just like the feeling of their arms round Cosette’s body.

      “Love you.” Eponine murmured.

      Cosette smiled, leaning against Eponine. “Love you too, Ep. Sleep well.”


	6. Day 6: Shopping for needs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eponine wrote down the list in their notebook, checking the fridge and freezer to make sure they’d written down everything they needed as they listened to the sound of Cosette coming down the stairs, ready to leave.
> 
> “Come on, ‘Ponine.” Cosette called from the hall. “We don’t want to be out too long.”
> 
> “Just checking what else we need.” Eponine replied. “Can you think of anything else?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! This is Day 6! Hope you enjoy it.

Eponine wrote down the list in their notebook, checking the fridge and freezer to make sure they’d written down everything they needed as they listened to the sound of Cosette coming down the stairs, ready to leave.

       “Come on, ‘Ponine.” Cosette called from the hall. “We don’t want to be out too long.”

       “Just checking what else we need.” Eponine replied. “Can you think of anything else?”

       Cosette came in, and read over the list whilst Eponine checked the cupboards.

       “Only soap and toilet paper. Possibly shampoo. Oh, and bread. Do we have any bread?” Cosette asked.

        Eponine shook their head. “No, we ran out yesterday. Okay, I’ll add that. Hopefully that’s everything.”

       “If it’s not, we’ll remember in the shop. Or we can go to the forgot shop later.” Cosette said.

       “Yeah. Okay, let me just find my bag.”

       “I brought it down for you, love, it’s in the hall.” Cosette said, smiling at her partner.

       Eponine felt their own lips turn up. “Thanks.”

  
The journey to the local supermarket wasn’t that long, about a half hour walk. Cosette and Eponine made the journey hand in hand, talking about whatever came to mind, from the latest Star Trek episode to politics. It was a good time to catch up, to discuss things that weren’t particularly important but nice to talk about. By the time they got there, both had been smiling most of the way. They headed in, grabbing a trolley and moving into the store. Eponine reached out, grabbing a box of rice crispies almost straight away. Those were Gav’s favourite. It was followed into the trolley by frosties, the only thing Michel would eat. Azelma and Jean didn’t mind, and Eponine grabbed a box of Weetabix for themselves. Eponine pulled out the list, crossing over those three items. Cosette looked at them fondly. She’d never really bothered with a list herself, but Eponine found it useful to remember things, and to be honest, it did work.

       “Right, in this aisle, we need bread, porridge oats, and jam.” Eponine said, eyes fixed on the list. Cosette pushed the trolley, moving down the aisle to where those items were. Eponine shoved the list back in their pocket and moved with her, reaching out to grab items as they passed.

The bread was a multigrain loaf, which luckily all the kids were fine with eating. It wouldn’t last long; with sandwiches being made most days for lunches and toast being a popular breakfast option, bread went very quickly when shared between six people. They kept moving, Cosette taking Eponine’s hand in hers and swinging it as she pushed the trolley one handed down the aisle, Eponine only pulling away when they reached the jam. They usually got multiple flavours. The kids usually went for strawberry, but Cosette and Eponine tended to get blackcurrant jam as well, both for themselves and in case any of the kids wanted variety. There were various other sandwich fillings they used – Eponine usually made egg mayonnaise Sunday evening, and kept it in the fridge until it was used – but jam sandwiches were popular. Jean in particular loved strawberry jam and cheese sandwiches, and Gavroche would have them sometimes too.  

       Moving on, they collected the porridge oats and moved onto the next aisle, Eponine reaching out to grab eggs, milk, and cheese as they passed. Then they dragged Cosette over to where the pasta and pasta sauces were kept, selecting several different sauces, as well as some rice and a curry sauce. Unfortunately, they had to stick to nothing spicier than a korma in order to keep Jean happy (after all, he was only five, and spicy food wasn’t something he enjoyed). Next stop was vegetables, where Cosette grabbed some leeks, peppers, potatoes and onions, thinking about what she’d cook. Spanish omelette could be a good idea, and if they needed something simple the kids would never complain about baked potatoes, as long as they had toppings.

       The pair talked as they moved around the shop collecting various items. Soap and other toiletries were last, being loaded into the trolley carefully so they didn’t squash the other food. Frozen pizzas were in there, as well as some ice cream, and biscuits. Eponine picked up some fruit juice, orange with no bits and tropical juice. Fruit juice was a good way of tricking the kids into being healthier. They all preferred it to water, and whilst it was more expensive, it did help.

       “We forgot actual fruit,” Cosette pointed out. “Want me to run and grab some?”

       “Yeah, I’ll get the rest and meet you at the till.” Leaning in, Eponine kissed Cosette on the lips before taking the trolley away from her, and looking at the list again just to check everything necessary had been collected. No tomato puree, they realised, and walked back to that aisle, taking a tube and throwing it into the trolley.

       That was the last thing on the list as far as Eponine could see, even though they’d picked up a few extras. It was going to be a pain to carry all this home. Luckily there was a bus that went almost to their door, but even so. It was times like this that Eponine really wished they had a car. They’d only had driving lessons in the first place because their father had wanted them to work as a getaway driver, but it was a useful skill to have. Unfortunately, it wasn’t that useful when you couldn’t afford a car or insurance. They had their siblings to look after, and that was much more important than wasting money on a car they couldn’t actually afford, and didn’t necessarily need.

       There was no point worrying about it, so Eponine shoved the list back into their pocket and moved towards the till. The lines were long, which, while annoying, meant Eponine didn’t have to worry about Cosette getting back with the fruit in time. Sure enough, there were still two people in front of them when Cosette joined Eponine at the till, placing the fruit with the other items on the conveyer belt. Surprisingly, Cosette wasn’t alone.

       Bossuet was beaming at them from beside Cosette, holding a bag from the in store bakery.

       “Hey Eponine! Cosette said she’d pay for my croissants if I gave you guys a lift back.”

       Eponine felt their shoulders relax. “I am fully in support of that. You sure you can spare the time?”

       “I’m free all day now, was just heading back from dropping Musichetta off at work. I forgot to have any breakfast, so stopped in here.” He explained. “And what good luck! I get my food paid for, and the company of two of my close friends!”

       Eponine smiled. “I mean, it’s in exchange for a lift, so not entirely free. But thank you, Bossuet. I was dreading carrying all this back on the bus.”

       “No worries. It’s not like you live that far away.” Bossuet pointed out.

       Cosette grinned. “Still, thanks. You heading home to spend time with Joly after?”

       “Nah, he’s been called into work too, they needed him at the hospital.”

       “You can spend some time at ours if you want. Gav will be glad to see you, as will the others.”

       Bossuet brightened, if it were even possible. “That sounds like an improvement over spending the afternoon by myself.”

       Eponine grinned. It was almost like free babysitting, having Bossuet over. He loved spending time with the kids, and they loved him. It would let them put all the shopping away and start on making lunch without being interrupted every five minutes. Bossuet knew that would happen, but also knew that he’d get free lunch, and that they’d be joining in after lunch anyway. It was one of Eponine’s free days, which was nice. It meant they could spend the whole day with their family.

       They reached the front of the queue, and the cashier started putting through their items as Eponine pulled out their purse and several plastic bags, Cosette and Bossuet both taking up the task of filling those bags with the purchased items. The croissants, when they went through, were quickly placed in Bossuet’s large coat pockets instead, whilst everything else was bagged and then put back in the trolley to make it easier to carry it to the car.

       Eponine paid the cashier once everything was through, and, wishing the cashier a nice day, started pushing the trolley towards the exit, Bossuet and Cosette following. They walked out to Bossuet’s car, and started loading everything into the boot. The sheer volume of stuff made Eponine grateful all over again for Bossuet’s willingness to give them a lift.

       Cosette got into the front next to Bossuet, Eponine themselves sliding into the back. Bossuet’s music started playing almost immediately – Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody.

Before long, they were all singing along and laughing, enjoying themselves. The journey back was much shorter than the journey there, simply by virtue of travelling by car. It was under ten minutes before Bossuet parked in front of their house, having surprisingly good luck finding a parking space for once. Eponine texted Gavroche and Azelma.

_Hey, come help us carry everything in. Boss gave us a lift._

       As Bossuet opened the boot and started passing bags out, the door opened to 4 kids who were much more excited than usual to help. Eponine and Cosette knew better than to think Bossuet wasn’t the reason, especially considering Jean and Michel both greeted their friend with hugs.

       Bossuet laughed. “Nice to see you too, guys. Okay, okay, let’s get all this in and then I’ll teach you how to be better at Mario Karts.”

       Gavroche and Azelma were more restrained in their responses, but both still very happy.   
       Everyone grabbed some bags and started moving in, just about managing to get everything in one trip. Bossuet locked the car behind them.

       “Okay, everything into the kitchen for now.” Eponine called as the kids went into the house ahead of them. The instructions were followed fairly well. Whilst not everything belonged in the kitchen, it was easier to have all the bags in one place to sort through.

Bossuet, once he’d put his bags down, pulled out his croissants to eat.

      “You guys go play in the lounge,” Eponine said. “We’ll put everything away.”

Jean and Michel beamed, practically dragging Bossuet away. Azelma hesitated.

       “Are you sure you don’t want any help?” She asked.

       Eponine smiled. “It’s fine, don’t worry. We’ll put it all away, you go and relax. Or work on your homework, if you haven’t finished it.”

      Azelma pulled a face, but left, though whether to actually do homework was anyone’s guess.

Eponine and Cosette, meanwhile, turned their attention to the shopping bags before them. Cosette smiled, leaning forwards with a kiss.

       “Makes it a little more interesting, don’t you think?” She teased, before moving to search through a bag. Eponine rolled their eyes, but couldn’t keep the smile from their face. They never could, when it came to Cosette. One hand searching through a bag, the other reached for Cosette’s hand to squeeze. It wouldn’t take too long to put everything away, but they could always take advantage of a few moments by themselves anyway, a moment to hug without Jean, who always got very excited by hugging, joining in. Not that they didn’t love Jean’s hugs too, of course, but it was nice to spend a few moments just with Cosette.

       Surely the shopping could wait just a moment longer, Eponine thought, and they reached to kiss Cosette again, both of them smiling.

       “We should do this after we’ve put things away.” Cosette said, her eyes warm as they met Eponine’s.

       “Yeah, true.” Eponine forced themselves to pull away. “But if you think I’m not cuddling you all afternoon on the sofa, you’re very mistaken.”

       Cosette grinned. “That sounds perfect.”


	7. Day 7 : Exercising

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The leisure centre seemed fairly busy, as Eponine and Cosette headed over to the reception, all of Eponine’s siblings in tow clutching bags of towels and swimming costumes. Cosette smiled as she reached the reception desk.
> 
> “Hello, 2 adults and 4 children for swimming please.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I've had a bit of a difficult few weeks. Depression sucks. Also assignments for uni and a ton of stress. But I'm not giving up on this, even if there's no way I'll finish it within the planned 30 days. I will finish it. I will have 30 chapters of Eposette fluff, no matter what. With that said, here's what was meant to be day 7!
> 
> [ What the swimming pool looks like ](https://media.dayoutwiththekids.co.uk/media/14955/33068-pavilion-leisure-centre-bromley-02.jpg?mode=crop&quality=75&width=834&height=467)

The leisure centre seemed fairly busy, as Eponine and Cosette headed over to the reception, all of Eponine’s siblings in tow clutching bags of towels and swimming costumes. Cosette smiled as she reached the reception desk.

       “Hello, 2 adults and 4 children for swimming please.”

       The guy behind the desk nodded and named the price, which Cosette paid, before leading them all through towards the changing rooms. Eponine ushered the kids forward, making sure they didn’t get distracted by the various vending machines and swimming equipment for sale. Gavroche and Azelma headed to a changing room each, old enough that they didn’t want to change with the others, but Eponine led Jean and Michel into a family changing room with them and Cosette to help them get changed. Whilst Cosette changed, Eponine helped get Jean and Michel’s costumes out of their bags and start getting them changed. Once Cosette was changed, she took over, giving Eponine a chance to get into their own costume.

       There was a knock on the changing room door.

       “We’re done, going to get a locker.” Gav called through the door.

       It wasn’t long before they were joining Gavroche and Azelma at the lockets, choosing one to shove the rest of the clothing and belongings in, towels placed on top so they could reach them first.

       That done, Jean and Michel started rushing towards the pool eagerly, the smell of chlorine leading them. The others followed, Eponine calling after Jean and Michel to slow down so they didn’t slip as they got closer to the pool. It was a slopping entry at one end of the pool into shallow water, rather than the usual square swimming pool with steps, and Jean and Michel were soon stepping into the warm water of the pool, closely followed by the others.

       Eponine and Cosette were the last two in, Eponine smiling as they watched Cosette join in playing with the kids as if they were her siblings too. Cosette had accepted it all without any hesitation. She’d known it would be hard raising Eponine’s siblings with them, but she’d jumped into it anyway.

       Cosette was amazing. A soft smile was on Cosette’s face as she stood with the younger ones, reminding them to be careful and not splash other people.

       Eponine stepped forward, moving further into the pool. Gavroche and Azelma were already heading for the flumes – fair enough, they were both old enough to be fairly unsupervised. Michel moved back to Eponine.

       “Can I go too?” He pleaded. Jean looked disappointed.

       “Yes, you can.” Eponine said, swimming to catch up with Gavroche and Azelma, who were swimming towards the flumes entrance at the back of the pool.

       “Wait, you two. Take Michel!”

       The two paused, waiting for their brother to join them before continuing again, and Eponine swam back to where Cosette was waiting with Jean. Jean still wasn’t tall enough to go on the flumes, and was always disappointed. They’d measured Jean that morning just to make sure, but no luck.

       “Want to go stand by the wave machine at the back?” Eponine asked, grinning at their sibling.

       Jean frowned. “I want to go on the flumes!”

       “I know, I know, but you’re not big enough yet. Maybe next time.”

       Jean still looked upset. Before Eponine could say anything else, Cosette stepped in, swimming up and grabbing Jean, lifting the child on to her shoulders.

       “Monster attack! What’s the brave and wonderful Jean going to do to escape capture?” She called up, moving further into the pool. Eponine swam after them, watching as Jean’s face lit up despite being unable to use the flumes.

       “Eponine help me!” Jean called. “The monster’s got me!”

       Eponine grinned, and swam forward. “I can’t fight the monster alone, Jean. I need your help, remember?”

       Jean nodded, looking determined, and reached down to try to tickle Cosette. She was good at avoiding it, especially considering the child was on her shoulders, but eventually Jean managed to reach her.

       She twisted, but it was no use. Jean had caught her.

       “Noo, you beat me!” She called, sinking down so that Jean was back in the water, letting go so Jean could swim away.

       “Woo! Well done, Jean!” Eponine said, grinning. Soon, a full out chase was going on, Jean practicing swimming and having fun, forgetting about the fact that the flumes had a height requirement.

       The time in the swimming pool went by quickly, and soon Eponine was collecting everyone from their various flumes and having fun with the wave machine to get back and get changed.

       There was the inevitable argument of ‘already?’ but Eponine couldn’t be swayed, and Cosette was by her side.

       “If you don’t want to come, we won’t have time to get ice cream.” Cosette reminded them.

       There was a pause, and then all four were moving towards the changing rooms, still not wanting to leave the pool but willing to be bribed by ice cream.

       It didn’t take long for everyone to get dry and changed, and soon they were leaving through the main door, heading back into the leisure centre’s reception area.

       There was a shopping centre partly attached to it, and they moved towards it, Eponine’s siblings chattering excitedly. Jean bounced between Eponine and Cosette, talking about the different flavours of ice cream to choose from.

       Soon, they were at the dessert café, and everyone was picking out flavours. Eponine chose the parma violet ice cream, to be made into a milkshake. They couldn’t resist it, no matter how often they came here. It was delicious. Cosette smirked at their choice, and took longer choosing her own flavour, though it was Jean, as always, who took the longest. Eventually, everyone had chosen their respective flavours, and they sat down to relax in the café, each with either an ice cream or milkshake to enjoy. Eponine kissed Cosette on the cheek as they sat down, and whilst Cosette was distracted, snuck a taste of her ice cream.

       “Hey!”

       Smirking to themselves, Eponine turned back to their girlfriend, who had raised an eyebrow in mock annoyance. Eponine offered a taste of their milkshake in recompense, but Cosette kissed her instead, both of them smiling.


	8. Day 8: Wearing each other's clothes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosette fumbled through the wardrobe, searching. She knew she hadn’t worn it. It wasn’t in the laundry either, she’d only just put that on. So where was the dress she’d been planning to wear? She checked the chest of drawers, just in case it had ended up in there instead, but there was no luck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this was meant to be cute fluff about wearing each other's clothes and most of it is taken up by Cosette and Azelma talking. I just wanted to develop their relationship as well, I guess?   
> Anyway, Day 8! Hope you enjoy.

Cosette fumbled through the wardrobe, searching. She knew she hadn’t worn it. It wasn’t in the laundry either, she’d only just put that on. So where was the dress she’d been planning to wear? She checked the chest of drawers, just in case it had ended up in there instead, but there was no luck.

       Sighing, she gave up, deciding to steal something of Eponine’s instead. After all, Eponine wouldn’t mind. She just wanted to look nice for the Les Amis party they were going to. There wasn’t really a dress code, but Cosette loved to dress up, and there was always an odd mix between jeans and smart suits there.

       There – a purple dress of Eponine’s, fairly new, with medieval style sleeves and lacing on the arms. It was nice, and Eponine clearly wasn’t planning on wearing it, seeing as they’d got ready earlier and texted Cosette to let her know they’d gone out briefly just before Cosette got home. She’d see them soon enough.

       Cosette put the dress on, and started to do her makeup, putting glitter on her eyelids. She and Eponine both loved glitter. To be honest, most of Les Amis did. The one thing certain about the party tonight was that there would be a lot of glitter.

       As she put on her lipstick, she heard the front door open and close and smiled. Eponine was back. She hurried up, looking forward to seeing her partner. She’d been at work most of the day, and wanted to see Eponine.

       It wasn’t just Eponine who had returned, but their siblings, too. Cosette could hear them downstairs, Eponine trying to get them ready. It didn’t matter what they wore, so it probably wouldn’t take too long for them to get ready. Meanwhile, Cosette started on her hair. It didn’t take her long. She took part of it up and in a plait, the rest of her soft blue hair hanging loose at her back. Checking her appearance in the hall mirror as she passed, she headed down the stairs. Azelma left her room from behind Cosette, and grinned.

       “Cosette! Nice dress.”

       Cosette turned, smiling at the girl who had, as with all Eponine’s siblings, become her family.

       “You look wonderful yourself, Zel. I see you decided to dress up this time.” She noted.

       Azelma shrugged, looking slightly embarrassed.

       “Yeah, well. It’s nice to wear pretty dresses sometimes.” She said.

       Cosestte smiled. “I agree. So how was school?”

       Azelma pulled a face, and Cosette put her lips together sympathetically.

       “That bad?”

       Azelma sighed. “Not really, I guess, just…urgh. All the teacher’s keep going on about getting our uni applications in and making sure it’s perfect, and all these after school sessions on interviews and personal statements. It’s just a lot of pressure.” She admitted.

       Cosette stepped forward, wrapping her arms around the girl who was basically a sister to her.

       “You know you can always come to Eponine and I for help. Do you want to look over everything this weekend? If you want, we can have a complete break from it and do something else entirely, something fun and relaxing, alright?”

       Azelma gave a slight smile. “Thanks, I just…it’d be great if you could help me look at universities again, I still don’t know where to apply. I also just want to forget about it for a bit though.”

       Cosette rested her hands on Azelma’s shoulders, stepping away slightly to look at her properly.

       “We can do both of those. How would you best like to forget? Gaming? A shopping trip?”

       Azelma smiled. “Let’s just start with the party. I don’t wanna be late.”

       “Alright, let’s head downstairs. But don’t be afraid to ask for help, okay? We’re here for you.”

       “Thanks.”

       The two headed down the stairs together, Cosette moving into the kitchen to get the bottle of wine she’d bought to take to the party. Already in the kitchen was her partner, Eponine.

       Eponine looked up, their face falling into a grin as they saw Cosette. They pushed the hair out of their face and moved forward.

       “Wow, you look beautiful.” They breathed. “Wait, is that my dress?”

       Cosette laughed. “You look amazing as well, love. And yeah, it is. I’m now realising why I wasn’t able to find the dress I’d planned to wear.”

       Eponine glanced down at themselves, looking sheepish.

       “You were planning to wear this?” They asked.

       “Mm hmm.” Cosette nodded. “I have to say, it looks stunning on you.”

       She moved forward, reaching out to run her hands down Eponine’s arms. “In fact, I think I prefer it this way.”

       Eponine grinned. “Really?” They leaned in for a kiss.

       “Ugh, come on! We’re going to be late, and you two are kissing?”

       The two pulled apart to see Gavroche, standing in the doorway to the kitchen and smirking, eyebrow raised.

        Cosette smiled, and dropped a quick kiss onto Eponine’s nose.

       “Alright, alright. Let’s go.”


	9. Day 9: Nursing the sick one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosette paused as she took the laundry out of the machine, unable to stop herself from coughing. Oh, it hurt. Her chest was aching from the coughing, and earlier she’d been unable to stop retching afterwards.  
> Eponine moved forwards, taking the laundry away and finishing the job of putting it in the clean laundry basket.  
> “Hey, hey. You need to rest, alright? I told you to lie down.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Time for Day 9! I've kind of given up on any kind of schedule and I'm just going to write when I can, but I'm definitely going to finish these 30 chapters, and hopefully before 2018. :)  
> Hope you enjoy it!
> 
> (Also, the book Eponine reads to Cosette is 'Earth Girl' by Janet Edwards, she's one of my favourite authors and I definitely recommend it)

Cosette paused as she took the laundry out of the machine, unable to stop herself from coughing. Oh, it hurt. Her chest was aching from the coughing, and earlier she’d been unable to stop retching afterwards.

       Eponine moved forwards, taking the laundry away and finishing the job of putting it in the clean laundry basket.

       “Hey, hey. You need to rest, alright? I told you to lie down.”

       “There are things that need – “ Cosette’s words were interrupted by her coughing. “-doing. Urgh.”

       Eponine raised an eyebrow. “I can do it, Cosette. Honestly. You can’t even finish a sentence without coughing, you need to stop.”

       Cosette looked about to argue, and Eponine glared.

       “Go. To. Bed.”

       Cosette sighed, but acquiesced, letting Eponine take care of the laundry and moving upstairs to bed. The kids were staying over at Jehan’s, so there was no need to keep them entertained. Eponine took the clean clothes and hung them up to dry, before making a hot cup of hot blackcurrant and honey with ginger and lemon in it for their girlfriend.

       Careful not to spill as they made their way up the stairs, they pushed open the door to see Cosette sitting up against a ton of pillows in bed, looking awful. She’d brought a new roll of toilet roll with her to use as tissues, and it was clear she was going to get through them quickly.

       “Here, this might help.” Eponine said, handing over the cup. Cosette took it gratefully.

       “Thank you.” She said, her voice rough and sounding as if it was almost gone. Eponine couldn’t help but feel bad. They wished they could do more to help their girlfriend, but what could you do with a bad cough and cold other than hope it went away? Hot drinks helped, and they’d helped Cosette steam herself earlier with a bowl of hot water and a towel. There was a small pile of menthol sweets and throat lozenges on the bedside table, just waiting for Cosette to use them.

       “I’ll make you some soup for tea in a bit if you want. That should soothe things a bit.” Eponine said, leaning forward to brush Cosette’s hair out of her face. “Soup is meant to be good for illnesses, I think.”

       Cosette coughed, the sound loud and painful, wincing at the pain in her chest. “It’s worth a try.” She croaked.

       Eponine leant forward and kissed her forehead softly. “Do you want me to read to you?” They offered. They knew it could be nice.

       Cosette started to speak, then seemed to think better of it and nodded. Eponine smiled, and went to get a book. It took a moment for them to decide which one to pick, but eventually they did.

       “It was on Wallam Crane Day that I finally decided what I was going to do for my degree course Foundation year. I’d had a mail about it from Isette…”

       They got through a few chapters before their own throat was hurting too much to continue. Drinking some water, Eponine stood. “I’ll make you that soup now, okay?”

       Cosette seemed half asleep by that point, having relaxed whilst listening to the story. She always liked listening to her partner’s voice.

       Eponine smiled as they looked down at Cosette. Their girlfriend was so adorable, it was impossible not to. They headed out quietly, to go heat up some soup. They’d made some together over the weekend, and frozen the leftovers. It wouldn’t take long to heat up, and Eponine would bring some buttered bread up as well. Cosette needed to eat, and Eponine knew she wouldn’t necessarily on her own, feeling that bad.

       The soup was ready fairly quickly, and Eponine loaded it all onto a tray, careful not to spill it. They’d made a cup of hot blackcurrent, honey, lemon and ginger as well to take up. It was good for the throat, and they wanted Cosette to get better.

       They knocked on the door before entering, but Cosette had now dozed off completely. Eponine smiled, and keeping the tray carefully balanced, leant down to kiss their girlfriend on the forehead.

       “Cosette, wake up. It’s soup time.”

       Cosette groaned, opening her eyes to see Eponine smiling down at her. Despite how bad she felt, she couldn’t help but smile back.

       “Sit up, Cosette. I brought you soup.” Cosette struggled to sit up against the pillows, moving them behind her to help rest against.

       It took a while for Cosette to eat the soup, being careful so as not to drip it on the bed, and doing her best not to drop crumbs. Neither she or Eponine liked sleeping on crumbs.

       When she finished, Eponine took the tray back downstairs, eating some bread themselves before coming back up. It would be difficult for both of them to eat on the bed and balance the trays without something going wrong.

       When they came back into the bedroom, Cosette was still sitting up, reading the book Eponine had been reading to her.

       “You should sleep, Cosette.” Eponine said softly. Cosette smiled.

       “Waiting for you.” She responded, coughing as she finished speaking. Eponine moved closer, taking the book.

       “I have some things to do, but you rest. I’ll be back later. If you need anything, your phone’s there, and I’ll only be downstairs.” They lent down, kissing Cosette on the cheek.

       “Okay.” Cosette said.

       A few hours later, Eponine returned, finding Cosette sound asleep against the pillows, hair falling everywhere. They climbed into bed themselves, cuddling against Cosette despite their girlfriend being ill. If they got ill, they’d deal with it.

       Cosette snuggled against them in her sleep, and Eponine couldn’t help but grin into Cosette’s hair, heart so filled with love they thought it might burst. Cosette was just so wonderful.  
       Eponine fell asleep to the feel of their arms wrapped around their girlfriend, and the warmth of Cosette against them, a smile on their face.


	10. Day 10 : Hair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cosette squeezed Eponine’s hand excitedly. “Really? You think you can do it?”   
> Eponine grinned. “I’ve dyed my own hair enough times, and there’s a tutorial about it. You use tin foil to separate it. I can manage.”   
> “Yes! This is going to look amazing!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I'm just going to apologise. This was not completed in 30 days and it's been a long time since. But I am still going to complete it, regardless of how long it takes. I've been really busy in many ways and it's been hard finding time to write, even short oneshots like these chapters. Also, I'm very sorry that this chapter is very short. The next one should be longer.   
> I hope that you enjoy it, despite that.

Cosette squeezed Eponine’s hand excitedly. “Really? You think you can do it?”

       Eponine grinned. “I’ve dyed my own hair enough times, and there’s a tutorial about it. You use tin foil to separate it. I can manage.”

       “Yes! This is going to look amazing!”

      Cosette’s sheer enthusiasm bounced off onto Eponine; they could barely stop themselves from laughing as their girlfriend almost literally jumped up and down.

      “You’ll look amazing no matter what, but yes, rainbow hair will look great.” Eponine said.

       Cosette squealed. “Rainbow hair! Ah, I’ve wanted to do this for so long but I was too nervous to do it by myself.”

       Eponine kissed their girlfriend quickly as she moved. “You’re adorable, you know.” They stated. It was a simple fact, and hearing it made a beaming grin spread across Cosette's face.

        A few days later, they’d bought the hair dye, and set up in the bathroom, a laptop brought in with them to watch whilst they were waiting for the dye to set. Usually when Eponine dyed their hair, the instructions said to leave it for about half an hour, so they expected the same with this. No point not using that time to watch something and relax with their girlfriend.

       Cosette sat in front of them on the bathroom tiles, face still just as excited as it had been a few days earlier. Eponine couldn’t stop smiling whenever they caught a sight of their girlfriend’s face, so full of glee at the thought of having rainbow coloured hair.

       Eponine read the instructions on each dye carefully, making sure they knew exactly what to do before they started separating Cosette’s hair. They couldn’t help but be more nervous dying Cosette’s hair than they usually were doing their own. If they did something wrong with their own hair, it only affected them. This was more important.

       It took a while to apply all the dye, and the two chatted as Eponine did, comfortable together in a way that Eponine had only ever thought was rare. They were finding it more often than they had ever thought possible.

       Eventually, the dye was applied. It said to leave it for half an hour, so the pair relaxed by watching an episode of their favourite sitcom, holding hands as they did. After that, Eponine left to sit in the lounge whilst Cosette had a shower. Eponine knew it would take a while – when they’d first dyed their own hair, it had said to stay in the shower until the water ran clear. That had taken a ridiculously long time for Eponine, who’d had fairly long hair at the time. They’d expected to be quicker, and ended up worrying about how much water they were wasting and if it would affect bills. This time, they were prepared. They made themselves a cup of tea, heating enough water in the kettle that there would be enough to make a cup for Cosette when she was finished as well, and relaxed, Cosette’s voice reaching them over the shower. Cosette never could resist singing in the shower. It was one of the things Eponine loved about living together; listening to that beautiful voice each morning would brighten anyone’s day.

       Eponine read and waited for Cosette to finish. They got through several chapters before the shower turned off, and Cosette’s singing quietened as she got out.

      Eponine stood, heading back towards the bathroom. They were oddly nervous, butterflies twitching in their tummy as they hoped that the dye had worked like they’d wanted. If they’d messed up Cosette’s hair, they’d be horrified.

      Cosette stepped out, grinning, hair hanging over her shoulders, soaking wet still but clearly a variety of colours.

      “Look! It looks amazing!” She beamed, and Eponine felt their heart warm with love towards their girlfriend.

      “You really do. You’re a beautiful gay rainbow.” Eponine told her, smiling, and Cosette grinned back.

       “Now we need to dye your hair in the genderfluid colours, right?”

       Eponine laughed. Maybe not.


End file.
